


for better (not for worse)

by esmeraldablazingsky



Category: Naruto
Genre: Friendship, Idk what i'm doing, Naruto/Everyone - Freeform, Ramen, everybody is friends, hinata is so shy oh my god, this is Too Many Relationships i am sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 03:59:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11028162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esmeraldablazingsky/pseuds/esmeraldablazingsky
Summary: Naruto is friends with everyone, that's basically it.





	for better (not for worse)

Konoha's hospital staff know some people personally- Naruto Uzumaki is, not surprisingly, one of those people. He opens his eyes to the familiar sight of the hospital ceiling, but when he turns to get up, wincing at the pain in his ribs, he sees something that seems terribly out of place. Neji Hyūga sits by the windowsill, his hands folded neatly in his lap. 

"Oh," says Naruto in surprise. Neji looks up, pale eyes calm and steady as the sunlight filtering through the blinds. 

"You're awake," he observes. Naruto shoves back the covers and sits up, only to have Neji push him gently back down again. 

"What was that for?" asks Naruto indignantly, frowning. Neji sighs, brushing back a stray lock of dark hair. 

"You're hurt," he says disapprovingly. Naruto doesn't explicitly deny it, but he does huff and cross his arms in a way that eloquently conveys his point. 

"You will be fine," says Neji, leaning over to inspect the bandages spanning across Naruto's collarbone and over one of his shoulders. "I am sure of it." 

"He checked," says an amused but also slightly exasperated voice from somewhere nearby. Naruto whips around to see Tenten standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, smiling a little bit.

"Tenten," says Naruto. Out of all the people to show up during his frequent hospital stays, Tenten had never been one of them. 

"I came to make sure Neji doesn't knock himself out," Tenten explains. Neji makes an indignant sound, but doesn't argue outright. It's a funny thing, Naruto knows- the fact that he and Neji are even on friendly terms after all that had happened. But here they are, against all odds, good friends or maybe even something more. Naruto climbs out of bed, ignoring Neji's protests, and skips off out the door (to go get ramen, of course.) Neji and Tenten follow him downstairs, where the trio runs into a very excitable Rock Lee. Which is to say, a Rock Lee in his normal state. 

"Naruto!" he yells. He's definitely not using a hospital voice. It's sort of endearing, actually. 

"Do not break his ribs," says Neji as Lee yanks Naruto into an extremely enthusiastic hug. "They just healed." 

"Yes, sorry," says Lee, placing Naruto gently back onto the floor. 

"I'm going to get ramen," announces Naruto. 

"Ah, can I come?" asks Lee. Naruto nods and they leave the hospital, Tenten apologizing to the staff behind them. 

"I am going to find Hinata and tell her you have left the hospital," says Neji, vanishing down the road with Tenten and leaving Naruto with Lee. 

"Do you think Hinata asked Neji to tell her when I got out?" asks Naruto curiously, watching Neji and Tenten race off into the distance. 

"Yes, definitely." says Lee matter-of-factly. "She was very worried about you."

"Oh," says Naruto. There's a pleasantly fluttery feeling in his chest at Lee's words- someone finally cares. Finally. 

"I'm sure the others were worried as well," continues Lee, "but I wasn't. I know a Shinobi such as yourself could not have been severely harmed on such a mission." 

There's another sort of warm, fuzzy feeling attached to those words- a kind of strength that comes from the confidence of others. It's the kind of strength that takes the longest to gain, and Naruto knows he's come a long way from the lonely kid who was one step away from hating the world. 

There are already people at the ramen shop when Naruto and Lee arrive- Chōji apparently decided to eat something other than BBQ pork, and Shikamaru is practically stuck to his side as usual. Maybe it's the other way around, actually, but it's none of Naruto's business.

"Ah, hi," says Shikamaru, glancing over his shoulder. Chōji doesn't look up from his ramen, but he does wave in greeting.

"Where's Ino?" asks Naruto. Sure, Shikamaru and Chōji are and have always been inseparable, but nowadays they're rarely seen without Ino to complete the group.

"She finished her food an hour ago," says Shikamaru with his usual deadpan delivery. "I'm kind of too lazy to get up so I decided to stay here with Chōji." He glances over at the aforementioned ninja, who is still eating. "Not that I mind," he adds. A bowl of ramen appears in front of Naruto, who is vaguely surprised for a second, but chooses not to question it.

"I ordered for you," Lee informs him. "I hope you don't mind." Naruto doesn't. Like, at all. A movement catches his attention out of the corner of his eye- Lee is putting away the notebook he always carries around. Naruto looks back at his ramen and realizes it's exactly how he likes it. It's exactly like Lee to write down his friends' favorite orders, and somehow that makes the food taste even better than it usually does.

Lee leaves to train after a little while, and Chōji drags Shikamaru off to an ice cream shop somewhere in the village, so Naruto is left in a comfortable silence as he finishes his eleventh bowl of ramen. It's not the silence that comes from being alone and disliked, but rather the silence that is left when there's nothing else to say that one doesn't already know. It's the difference between never being told you are loved, and not having to be told.

Naruto fishes a stack of ramen coupons out of his bottomless pockets and leaves them on the counter- he can see someone standing in the shadows across the street, and he knows who it is. He approaches Sasuke before realizing that Sakura is there too, glaring at him with a look that's half concerned and half utterly pissed off.

"You idiot!" she yells when Naruto is within arm's reach. He winces as she slaps him in the face and then hugs him so tightly it's painful. 

"Sakura," he says, caught a little bit off guard. "Sakura, my ribs got broken, ya know." She lets him go and crosses her arms in a way that signals a lecture. 

"You're so reckless," she snaps. "Don't you ever know when to stop?" 

"No, he doesn't," mutters Sasuke. He's resolutely avoiding Naruto's gaze, choosing to glare at a nearby pebble instead. 

"Sakura," complains Naruto, but she shushes him angrily and hugs him again, less violently this time. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto sees Sasuke make a move like he wants to join in before stopping himself. Apparently Sakura noticed it too, because she reaches out and yanks Sasuke into their impromptu group hug, ignoring his protests. 

Naruto wonders, a bit hazily, how he and Sakura had gotten to the point where she would hit him and then hug him rather than just hitting him and leaving it at that. And Sasuke hasn't shoved either of them away either, which is nice. The group hug finally breaks up when they hear footsteps coming from down the road- Hinata, Kiba, and Shino are approaching. Well, Hinata is being dragged along by an extremely exasperated Kiba, but whatever. 

"...It's really not that big a deal," Kiba is saying once he's within earshot. "Seriously, Hinata, get yourself together." She says something in return that's too quiet to comprehend, and Kiba sighs. 

"It's not difficult," he says. "See, I'll do it." He lets go of Hinata's jacket, walks over to Naruto, and hugs him. 

"Why's everyone hugging me, ya know?" says Naruto, confused. 

"I'm trying to show her that she shouldn't be so nervous," says Kiba, pointing to Hinata, who is trying to run away but not having any success due to Shino's grip on her sleeve. 

"Hey, Hinata, what's the problem?" says Naruto, oblivious as ever. Kiba groans internally and hopes for the best. Hinata doesn't respond, too busy silently panicking to do anything. 

"Hinata?" says Naruto again. He's starting to get kind of concerned. "Hinata, your face is bright red, ya know. Are you okay?" 

"I'm perfectly alright," Hinata squeaks, still blushing like some sort of fire engine. A second later, she yelps as Kiba appears behind her and shoves her into Naruto's chest. 

"Just get on with it," says Kiba, annoyed. "Come on, Hinata." Hinata flings her arms around Naruto for about half a second before jumping up and bolting down the road, Kiba and Akamaru in pursuit. Shino follows at a more leisurely pace, and Naruto is left in the middle of the road with Sakura and Sasuke, getting increasingly more confused. 

"Well, that was weird," says a voice from behind Sakura, who jumps violently. 

"Ino!" she almost yells, whirling around in surprise. 

"I see you're out of the hospital," says Ino, glancing at Naruto. She looks back at Sakura and adds "I thought I'd find you here with these two." Sakura flushes bright pink and crosses her arms, flustered. 

"They're my teammates," she explains rather unsuccessfully. Ino shoots her a wicked grin and fixes a stray lock of Naruto's hair before leaving the way she came. Naruto stares after her, thoroughly puzzled but definitely not unhappy. If it's a choice between unbearable loneliness and people showing up randomly to give him hugs for some odd reason, he'll choose the latter in a heartbeat. 

Maybe it wasn't the best for his still-sore ribs, but the affection of his classmates makes Naruto feel like his dreams might be within reach after all. He has the friendship and love of the people in the village who matter most to him, and even if not everyone acknowledges him yet, they will. He knows they will. It's rare days like these that give him hope for the future- days when he can see the difference between now and how it had been before. It's tangible and beautiful and the world is always changing. Maybe, just maybe, it'll start turning in his favor. 

 

~end~


End file.
